


3 Wishes

by ImAshamedAboutThis



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, genie tyler, ill update tags and characters later, im not sure what else to tag tbh, joshler - Freeform, tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-08-19 02:38:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8186134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImAshamedAboutThis/pseuds/ImAshamedAboutThis
Summary: Josh finds a lamp, why wouldn't he rub it? That's what all the movies say to do. He wasn't sure what he was expecting... But for the lamp to actually work and summon a genie named Tyler , well that was on the very bottom of things he expected to happen. What does Josh do with the power of three wishes?Aka I'm bad at descriptions: NormalGuy!Josh and Genie!TylerI apologize now for this dookie.





	1. 1: Some bad news... Or is it?

"Mmn-Shut up.." Josh breathes out heavily as he shoves his head underneath his pillows, his mind trying to block out the constant noise ringing out from his bedside table.

Today was his day off and he planned to keep it that way, he didn't have to wake up in the morning, he didn't have to pull himself together to go to work, and he didn't have to face any people.   
Don't get him wrong, despite his over all social anxiety, Josh was definitely a people person.   
But, even the biggest people person can get run down by-Well, people.  
So, saying that he was just looking forward to a day off from customers and humans in general was a bit of an understatement.

"Oh, come on." Josh groans out into his mattress as the ringing from beside him goes off for the third time.

Why couldn't people tell that if someone doesn't answer their phone they're either busy or just don't want to talk at seven in the fricken morning?

With a hardy sigh and the reluctance to move, Josh's hand shoots out and finally grabs the noisy cellphone from his bedside table, not bothering to look at the contact I.D. before blindly hitting the accept button and putting the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" Josh's groggy voice speaks into his phone as he lazily rolls over onto his side, trying his best to keep any lick of annoyance out of his tone.  
He was an overall nice guy, in fact some people would say that he's too nice, so Josh didn't want the other person on the line to feel like they were bothering him;  
Even though they were.

"Joshua! Finally." Josh's mother's voice comes through his speaker and instantly Josh's annoyance softens.

Of course it was his mother, who else would call that excessively at this time in the morning?  
And, being the big mama's boy Josh was, he just couldn't find it in him to stay annoyed at the woman who raised him.

"What's up, mom?" Josh says in reply, voice sounding slightly strained since he was in the middle of sitting up and stretching his tired and sore body out. His shoulders and back popping in a satisfying way.

"Do you remember Grandpa Dun?" His mother's voice cuts back through the phone and the odd question immediately makes Josh's eyebrows furrow down in suspicion.

"Uh, yeah, I think... I met Grandpa Dun when I was little, right? Before he started shutting everyone out?" Josh asks just to make sure, having trouble even placing a memory of his estranged grandfather.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did but, I'm afraid to say that he passed away a couple days ago." His mother's sympathetic and saddened voice says back to him, it sending a little wave of shock down Josh's spine.

Sure, Josh never really knew his Grandpa Dun, but that didn't mean he wasn't a bit upset to find out that he was dead... Though it wasn't exactly enough to make him burst into tears about it either.

"Oh, uh, wow, uh- I don't even know what to say to that." Josh readily admits, beginning to rub the back of his neck with his calloused hand in a sheepish way.

He wasn't really sure what kind of reaction his mother wanted, he didn't even know exactly why he was being told about this. Not that Josh didn't appreciate knowing his Grandpa had passed, but it wasn't like this news really impacted his life in any way.

"That's alright Josh, I didn't expect you to be launched into hysterics about it. It's just, well, your father went by to sort out his will and it turns out that Grandpa Dun left everything to you. His house, his car, his belongings-" Josh had to cut his mother off right there after a tiny dazed moment of shock.

"Wait- What? Why? I only met the guy like once when I was a little kid! Why would he do that?" Josh asks, bewilderment and an undeniable sense of excitement lacing his tone of voice as he questions his mother.

"I honestly have no idea Josh. Your father thinks it was just to spite him since they didn't have the best relationship." Her mother passes on her husband's information as she lightly drums her freshly painted finger nails on her kitchen counter top.

"I can text you his address so you can drop by the house and check out what he left behind."

"Wow, okay, uh, yeah, thanks mom?" Josh says back, but the confusion in his tone makes his sentence come out as more of a question rather than a thank you.

"You're welcome, Josh. Stop by to visit sometime soon alright?" Josh can practically hear the little smile gracing his mom's lips as she talks, which in turn pulls a smile of his own on to Josh's lips as well.

"Yeah, I will. Love you, mom." Josh tells her in response, waiting to hear her "I love you" back before taking the phone away from his ear and hitting the end call button.

Immediately, Josh lets out a drawn out breath that he must have been unconsciously holding onto, glancing around his dimly lit room.

How was he even supposed to process this information.

Josh just went from living in a dumpy cramped apartment with little to nothing to his name, to suddenly owning his grandfather's house and everything inside of it?

This had to be a fever dream of some sort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wassup frens, I honestly have no clue what im doing. The chapters for this will probably be pretty short unless im feeling inspired. Sorry if my grammar sucks.


	2. 2: A Surprise

"Whoa." Was the first word that escaped Josh's lips as he drove up to his grandfather's -Now his- house.

It wasn't the newest looking house. But, compared to Josh's apartment? It was like a majestic castle.  
Besides, Josh kinda liked these types of big old houses, it made him feel like he was some posh rich man that didn't have to worry about what other people thought about him when inside one.

He silences the loud rumbling of his car by turning and taking the key out of the ignition, staring up at his new house through his windshield.  
Now, he didn't want to sound ungrateful.. But, Josh was really hoping the inside was at least as nice as the outside and he wasn't just plagued with some rotting old house.

After taking a short breath to recollect himself and his thoughts, Josh quickly unbuckles and steps out of his car before shutting the car door behind him.

The yard was pretty big and looked well kept, Josh couldn't help but wonder if his 80+ year old grandfather had been keeping up with the lawn himself or if maybe Josh now has a landscaper he probably won't be able to afford to keep.

Josh makes his way up the steps, glancing around to make sure no neighbors were currently calling the cops on him, though that probably only made him look more suspicious by doing so.

He lets out a hardy breath of air, it puffing his cheeks up in the process.

Why was he so nervous?

And wait, why was he raising his hand to knock? This was his house now.

With a shake of his head at his own stupidity, Josh lowers his fist and glances around the small porch before his eyes land on a potted plant a couple feet from the door, quickly beginning to walk over to it. This must be the plant his dad said he hid the house key in, so Josh wouldn't have to make an extra trip to pick the key up from him.

With little to no effort of brushing his fingers through the loose soil of the pot, Josh quickly finds and picks out the little silver key that must belong to the house, quickly walking back over to the door. He slips the key into the lock, turning it and hearing the satisfying click of the door handle being unlocked, before he slowly turns the knob and hesitantly pushes in the door.

A shudder runs down Josh's spine as the door gives off a classic haunted house squeak, gazing into the darkened home.

"Heelllooo?" Josh then cautiously calls out, trying to break the sudden spooky atmosphere rather than actually calling out for anybody's answer.

After receiving no reply from any ghosts or robbers inside, Josh hesitantly walks in.  
It doesn't take him long to spot the few light switches on the wall in the entrance way, quickly reaching out to them and flicking all three on, which not only switches the entrance's light on, but the stairwell's and the living room's too.  
Immediately, the spooky atmosphere vanishes, letting out a sigh of relief, before Josh reaches behind himself and closes the door.

The first thing Josh notices as he walks further into the house was that musty smell that could only be described as: Old.  
Josh's nose begins to wrinkle up in displeasure at the scent.

The second thing Josh notices, makes him stop dead in his tracks and his mouth to drop open slightly.  
He had just entered the living room, which had multiple displays of what looked like an assortment of antiques.

Really cool and valuable looking antiques if he was being specific.

Josh walks further into the room, eyes wide as he examines things from ancient looking vases and crowns to swords and shrunken heads.

Immediately, Josh's interest was peaked.  
He didn't know his grandpa was a collector of any sort, especially not of stuff this cool looking.

As he begins to explore the rest of the house, Josh finds that these displays of artifacts and antique looking items were all over the house, everything being set up in a professional looking manner.  
It almost seemed like he had walked into a museum... A museum that he now owned.

Soon, Josh had found himself moving upstairs to continue his exploration.  
He'd found his grandfather's bedroom- Which Josh immediately left alone because that's where his dad said they had found his body and Josh was not about to stand in a room where an old man just recently died. That's some bad juju right there.  
He then found a room that looked to be a study of some sort.  
There was a desk against the back wall and bookshelves lining each side of the room that, no doubt, held old and valuable books.

After a thorough investigation of the upstairs, Josh walks back to the stair case, which continued to go up into what Josh could only assume was the attic. And, with all the cool things he found out of storage, Josh could only imagine what would be up there in storage.

Like an excited child on a field trip, Josh bounds up the stairs, taking two steps at a time with each stride.  
He brushes off the fact that the door leading into the attic looks especially creepy and just swings it open, his eyes widening for what felt like the 100th time since he got here.  
There was boxes upon boxes stacked through out the attic, along with items like mirrors and swords and even a mummy coffin being left out in the open.

Josh was definitely going to have to take some time and go through some of this stuff.

Maybe he'll find something he'd especially love, like a five thousand year old drum kit or something.

\---

Josh had no clue how long he'd been sitting in this attic, but at some point it had gotten so dark that he stumble around to find the light switch.

He was now sitting in the middle of his grandfather's stuff, going through each box like it was Christmas morning.

It was like his Grandpa Dun was the famous Nathan Drake or something!  
He had things from all over the world and throughout different time lines and Josh was struggling to comprehend how his grandfather even got a hold of some of this stuff.

After setting down a box Josh just went through, he begins to rummage around, picking up a lighter box he had yet to go through... And already his interest was peaked.  
Unlike any of the other boxes, this one was taped completely shut with much more packing tape than what was honestly needed and it made Josh's imagination run wild.

Why was this box treated differently from all the others Josh went through?  
Maybe it was just something his grandfather wanted to make sure didn't get wet?  
Or chewed up by moths?

None the less Josh sits down on the floor and places the box in his lap, and after a little while of picking at the tape, he finally finds one end of it and begins to peel the adhesive up.

Once tape free, Josh opens the lid of the cardboard box, eyebrows razing as he stares down at a red velvet bag with gold strings tied at one end to keep it closed, there being a rather prominent boxy shape inside it.

Curiously, Josh takes out the bag, holding it up in both hands to examine it for a small moment before he kicks the cardboard box out of the way and sets the bag in his lap instead.  
From here he begins to untie the golden strings and open the bag up.

Inside was what looked to be a silver box of some sort, and after taking it out and inspecting it;  
Josh comes to the obvious conclusion that it was a case for something, evident from the little latch holding the old silver box closed.  
He flips the latch and slowly opens the box, quirking an eyebrow at its contents.

Inside the whole case was the same red velvet material that matched the bag, then in the middle in a perfectly shaped indent sat a golden oil lamp.  
Josh swallows hard as he stares down at the lamp, the little kid inside of him practically screaming with excitement and gives him the almost irresistible urge to just rub it.

How could he not want too?

The lamp looked like it came straight out of Aladdin for crying out loud!

It wouldn't hurt to just try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still dont know what im doing.  
> Edit* I was reading through this randomly and i noticed i forgot the ending of this chapter???  
> Tf is wrong with me???  
> Ill add it now but i feel bad for all the other people who's read this so far before i caught it.  
> Smh, sorry I'm a big dumbo


	3. 3: Definitely A Hallucination

It wouldn't hurt to try.

As Josh carefully takes the lamp out of its perfectly fitted case, he glances around the attic cautiously- As if there was going to be someone around to judge him for the embarrassing and childlike thing he was about to do.

Of course he knew this wasn't going to work.  
Genie's and magic, it just doesn't exist in the real word.  
But, just to satisfy his inner child...

Josh shakes his head and a dumb smile forms on his lips as he holds the lamp in his left hand and begins to rub it with his right, rolling his eyes as he does.

"Oh magical Genie, please grant me your three wishes wise one. I-" Josh begins to speak jokingly, before he completely freezes up as actual smoke begins to rise from the tip of the lamp. 

"Oh sh-" He says as the smoke suddenly begins to grow in volume, quickly dropping the lamp and jumping up to his feet.

What was happening?

Did he someone how light the lamp?

That was impossible right?

Don't you need actual fire to light them?

"H-Hey!" A voice suddenly fills the room before Josh could even figure out what was happening, immediately beginning to frantically look around for where the voice had come from, panic rising in his throat. 

"Don't you think its a little rude to drop someone's home?" The voice continues and Josh suddenly realizes it was coming from the smoke- Which by now, was starting to take shape into a person?

Josh's mouth was completely dry as he stares at the forming smoke in complete disbelief, his heart hammering loudly in his ears.

Before Josh could even decide what to do, a slim framed man was standing in front of him with his arms crossed.

He was about Josh's height, fluffy brown hair and perfectly tanned skin.   
Josh would have even deemed him attractive if he wasn't in a state of shock.

Josh takes a couple steps back in caution as the man suddenly bends down and picks up the lamp that Josh had dropped, scoffing as he begins to use the end of his black shirt to wipe it down.

"I really hate this thing, but if you break it, then I'm kind of screwed. So, maybe we shouldn't be dropping it, okay?" Josh listens to the man's words as he stands silently. 

Josh was having trouble wrapping his head around what just happened.

What was happening?

Where did this kid come from?

There was no way he was actually a-

"Anyways, guess I should introduce myself. I'm Tyler, the Genie who you released from this lamp." The man-Or rather, Tyler- says to Josh as he motions the lamp up with his hands. 

"...Why-Why are you dressed like that?" Was the first thing Joshua's dry mouth could say as he stares wide eyed at Tyler, motioning to the odd outfit he was wearing.

The male looked as if he had just stepped out of the freaking 90s.

He had a white shirt tucked into high-wasted baggy jeans, and a multi-colored nylon jacket over top... And don't even get Josh started on the white rimmed sunglasses he was wearing.

"You...You kinda don't look like a genie at all... No offense."

"Oh." Was Tyler's reply as he looks down at his clothing choice for a moment, before looking back up at Joshua.

"I just like to keep up with the latest hip styles. Why? Are these clothes not hip anymore?" Tyler then asks Joshua as he cocks his head to the side slightly. 

"Uh, oh, well- I mean, uh, they don't really look bad. So, so, I wouldn't say they're not really hip. Just, uh... Yeah, it looks kinda weird, I guess." Joshua admits, trying to put it in the lightest way possible since he didn't want to be mean to the boy in front of him...

Even if he was a magical genie or, more likely, a hallucination.

"Dang it!" Tyler exclaims and stomps his foot slightly as he does, suddenly ripping off the white rimmed glasses he was wearing and throwing them to the floor.

His sudden little outburst reminded Joshua of an upset child, which instantly brought an amused little smile to his lips despite the panic he was feeling in his chest.

"Why does this always happen!?"

"Right, uh well, if you don't mind, um, Mr.Tyler the Genie. I think I'm going to take a little trip to the hospital." Josh explains in the friendliest way possible, not wanting to out right scream and run from the room-Since he was a man and men don't run screaming from hallucinations.

"Why? You don't look hurt." Tyler points out as his eyes scan the male's body while Josh begins to slowly try and scoot himself around Tyler.

"Yeah, well, I think I might have inhaled something toxic up here- That would explain um, you." He motions to Tyler with his hand as he flashes a little nervous smile at him.

He was honestly a bit amazed that his mind could imagine something up this real looking and he briefly wonders if this was what it was like to have schizophrenia.

"Oohh... I see, you don't believe I'm real." Tyler says back in amusement, clicking his tongue as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Well, that's fine by me. But, I'm going to have to come with you, if you're leaving." He then tells Josh, his eyes following the male as Josh obviously tries to get around him. 

"Uh, could you maybe- Not? Come with me I mean. Its, It's nothing against you but, I've never had a hallucination before and its kinda freaking me out. So... If you could just stay here, that would be sick." Josh then explains to him, his mouth beginning to turn dry once more.

Why was he even talking to this guy?

It was just a hallucination.  
It had to be a hallucination... Right?

Tyler interrupts his thoughts by shaking his head in reply.

"No can do, sorry. My soul is now linked to yours for the time being. So, I have to stay a reasonable distance to you. Its just part of the curse to make it so I cant run away from my 'Masters'." He explains casually, turning his body to keep facing Josh as he watches the male back up towards the attic door, but his words seemingly make Josh freeze in his steps.

"Uh, sorry, Masters?" Josh says as his eyes go wide, swallowing thickly as he stares at Tyler in bewilderment.

Did he have some weird master/slave kink that he didn't know about till now?

Why was his mind thinking up this stuff!?

"Well, yeah, what else would I call the people who release me?" Tyler then answers as he shakes his head, sighing quietly as he walks towards Josh.

"Look, you can think I'm a hallucination all you want. But, I have to stick around you whether you like it or not." He makes it clear, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"So, can I like, at least know your name? So, I don't have to actually call you master because... Well, I guess I don't really have to explain why that would be pretty freakin weird." 

This makes Josh quirk an alarmed eyebrow at Tyler.

How would a hallucination from his own mind not know his name?  
Was his mind just trolling him now?

"Uh, sure, I guess... My names uh, Josh. You can call me Josh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins
> 
> Still dont even know what im doing


	4. 4: You're real?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This * represents a change in POV. Sorry for the interruption fren

"Before we go to the hospital, can you show me what clothes are cool now? I don't want to go out in these clothes if they're not hip anymore." Tyler chatters as he follows Josh out of the attic, glancing around the stairway curiously as they begin to walk down it.

"I uh-" Josh doesn't even get a chance to answer Tyler before he's already asking another question.

"Isn't this Mr.Dun's house?"

Tyler almost hits right into Josh as the red haired boy suddenly pauses on the stairs, stopping himself just in time.  
"What? Did you know Mr.Dun?" He asks curiously as Josh stares at him in a bewildered looking way...

Before Josh then suddenly turns back forward and starts trudging down the oak wood stairs once more.

"Josh? Are you ignoring me now? Hey, come on man, talk to me..." Tyler borderline whines as he begins to follow the red head down the stairs once more, brushing his hand on the dusty railing.

He may have only known Josh for a couple minutes. But, it's been- Tyler doesn't even know how long- since he was last let out into the world and he was craving the company of another person. He was craving the conversation and the laughs. He was craving to make new memories that he can cling onto when he gets forced back into his lamp. Into his prison.

"Look, Tyler, This is really freaking me out right now. I don't know what I inhaled up there to cause this, but it couldn't of been safe. So, I'd rather silently panic on the way to the hospital instead of conversing with a hallucination."

Tyler sighs heavily at Josh's reply, walking down into the entrance way after the male.

Sure, he _said_ he didn't care that Josh thought he wasn't real but...  
Of course Tyler actually did care.

He understood why Josh was a bit freaked, but he couldn't help but be disappointed by Josh's reaction to him.

How was he supposed to make memories with someone who refused to believe he was more than a hallucination?

Tyler innocently glances around the interior of the house as he follows Josh to the front door. His eyes study the familiar picture frames of family hanging on the wall, a little grin forming on his lips.

This was definitely Mr.Dun's house.

*

"Josh-Okay, I know you don't want to talk to me. But, if you could just call Mr.Dun, he can tell you I'm real." Josh hears Tyler's voice coming from behind him once more as he opens up the large front door and begins to walk out, but the mention of his Grandpa Dun again makes him pause and turn around to face the brunette for the second time.

This whole situation was just down right confusing for poor Joshua.

He was a simple guy who liked to hang out with his friends, listen to music, and play the drums.  
How was a simple guy like him supposed to cope with a hallucination asking him about his dead grandfather?  
How was a simple guy like him supposed to cope with a genie?

Josh's eyes scan Tyler up and down silently, his gaze obviously starting to make Tyler a bit uncomfortable; Seeing how the brunette was now glancing away and shifting awkwardly in place.

"If you are real, Tyler." Josh suddenly finally speaks up, his heart feeling as if it was beating a mile a minute.

"If you're real then, uh, close the door." He says as he motions to the open front door neither of them had yet to close as they stand on the porch in front of it, watching Tyler intently.

"Sure, easy, I can close doors. I'm practically a master at it." Tyler quips back to him playfully as he flashes an amused grin, turning towards the door and reaching forward.

Josh's eyes watch as Tyler's slender fingers wrap around the brass door knob, before he pulls the door shut, the latch clicking once he does.  
Now wide eyed, Josh takes a small alarmed step away from Tyler as the boy turns back to face him.

"See? I closed it. Am I real yet?" Josh's ears prick as Tyler speaks to him.

The sudden realization that Tyler might actually be real only increased the rate of Josh's heart, it feeling as if the muscle was trying desperately to break out of his rib cage.

"Uh-Uh, I... I don't know yet.. Um.." Josh answers quietly, watching as Tyler audibly sighs and rolls his eyes slightly.

"What else could I be if I can close doors and touch stuff?" Tyler asks him, the slight annoyance in his voice growing more and more evident each time his existence was denied by the red headed punk in front of him.

"I, um, I could be asleep right now- Yeah, uh, this could all be some big crazy dream..." Josh suggest though, even though he was the one saying the words, he knew there was no way it was true.

He had never experienced a dream that felt this real before.  
Besides, he remembers being woken up today by his mom's excessive phone calling.  
There was no way this was a dream.

Without even realizing what was happening before it was done, Josh flinches back as Tyler reaches out and suddenly uses his pointer finger and thumb to pinch down on his arm, sending a small sharp pain through his skin.

"Ow! Tyler! What was that for?" Josh shouts as he hurriedly rubs the spot of his arm Tyler had pinched, the exclamation of pain causing a wide grin to form on the face of the brunette boy in front of him.

"Look, that hurt you, right Josh? This isn't a freakin dream and I'm not a hallucination ." Tyler states in an almost-No, definitely- cocky tone of voice, crossing his arms over his chest as he grins smugly at Josh.

Josh's face on the other hand, was slowly growing with realization, his jaw starting to fall slack as he completely struggles to find an explanation for Tyler being able to hurt him like that.

It didn't take long for Josh to come up empty handed and for the truth to practically smack him in the face.

"...You're...real?"


	5. 5: Three Wishes

"So, if you're real, Do I get three wishes?" The excitement in Josh's voice was over powering the disbelief as he speaks to Tyler, slowly walking back into the house with the genie. 

Tyler looks back at Josh with a face of slight annoyance, his nose scrunching up as he nods in answer to the red head's question.   
"Yeah, but, but don't rush it. You only get three so, so you should take your time... Think about it so that, y'know, you don't waste them." He then says to Josh as his arms cross over his slim chest, his 90's nylon jacket making an unpleasant sound as the the sleeves rub together. 

"I guess you're right about that..." Josh agrees quietly, not knowing that Tyler only wanted Josh to take his time so that he didn't have to go back into his lamp right away. 

Tyler had just gotten out.   
The brunette didn't want Josh to run through his wishes in the span of mere minutes like some of his other masters had.   
He wanted time to enjoy himself!

"But like, could I wish for the cure to illnesses? Like cancer and stuff?" Josh then almost immediately asks as he ushers Tyler into the living room of the olden home, sitting down on the leather couch that was pushed up neatly against the living room wall. 

"Well, yeah... You could but, I wouldn't recommend it." Tyler gives his honest answer as he joins Josh on the couch right next to the red head, bringing his legs up onto the cushions and sitting Indian style.

Tyler's words make Josh quirk an eyebrow in question.   
Why wouldn't he want to wish for something like that?   
It would save so many people! 

Besides, its not like Josh really had much else to wish for.  
He already pretty much had everything he could really want; Drums, a job, his family, and he even got his grandfather's entire freaking inheritance! 

"Uh, why...? That seems like a pretty good wish to me." 

Tyler's tongue clicks and Josh watches as he the genie folds his arms over his chest once more and leans back against the leather couch cushions. 

"Because Josh, think about it! The world can only sustain so much life and every time I get to come out of the lamp, I here about how people are ruining the planet more and more... So if you take out a major illness, then the population is going to sky rocket and the earth is only going to be ruined much quicker! You could possibly be the cause of the end of life as we know it with a wish like that." Tyler launches into an explanation as if he's dealt with this kind of curious question before and, as messed up as it is, Josh could see the brunette's point. 

"I guess that makes sense... That sucks..." Josh sighs out as he looks around the living room, trying to think of something he could possibly wish for that wouldn't have dire consequences. 

"I uh, I don't really know what to wish for right n-"

"Good! That's good! You should take your time." Josh was cut off by Tyler's cheery voice, which draws the red head's attention back to the genie next to him. 

"I'm still having trouble believing that you're real..." He murmurs quietly, still feeling as if he was going to wake up on the attic floor any second and find out that Tyler was all just some big sleep deprived dream.

Maybe he'd actually wake up in his bed and find out his Grandpa Dun was still alive and none of this was real at all.

Wouldn't that be something?

"Well, you better believe it, buddy boy. Cause I'm not leavin'...yet." Tyler replies to Josh with a bright grin.

Josh then watches in amusement as the genie's eyes slowly begin to trail up to the red hair on Josh's head. 

"How'd you even get your hair like that? You cant be born with hair that red." He then suddenly states the obvious before reaching up like a mesmerized little child and running his fingers through the bright strands of hair on Josh's head. 

"Oh, it's just, hair dye. You put it on your hair and it turns it another color. You've never seen dyed hair before?" Josh asks with slight interest, watching Tyler as the brunette slowly shakes his head and pulls his fingers back from Joshua's brightly colored hair. 

"When was the last time you even left your lamp?" Josh then asks as his eyebrows furrow down, purely curious to know how much Tyler might not know about the world in it's current day and age.

"Uh, It was um... Mr.Dun last let me out, you can ask him." Tyler's answer made Josh's heart sink slightly, suddenly remembering that Tyler had kept mentioning his Grandpa Dun earlier. 

Oh great, he had to be that guy to tell this poor kid that "Mr.Dun" was dead, didn't he?   
Josh just loved to be the one to tell people bad news...not.  
Josh was a nice guy! He liked telling people happy things and watching their eyes brighten up in response, not the complete opposite.

"...Um... Tyler... About that, uh, Mr.Dun... He uh, he was getting pretty old, y'know. He was already in his 80's and well..." Josh trails of as he breaks away from Tyler's gaze while he speaks, hoping that maybe the brunette would get the gist of what he was trying to say. 

"Oh..." Tyler suddenly responds quietly, which brings Josh's gaze back to the genie. There was noticeable sadness on the boy's face but, over all he didn't look too heart broken over the depressing news. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry..." Josh trails off, swallowing thickly as he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, listening as Tyler clears his throat and begins to speak once more.

"Uh, well, Mr.Dun wasn't that old when he let me out... I mean, he was old but only like 60's old... I think." He tells Josh to try and give an idea on how long it might have been since he was last let out of his lamp, before then making his guess; 

"So, um, maybe like 20-ish years?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this while sleep deprived so sorry about any mistakes
> 
> Thanks frens


	6. 6: Mildly Confusing Explanations

20 years.   
The guess only seems to just now absorb into Josh's mind a couple moments after hearing it, mouth quickly falling slack in realization.

 

"Wait-! 20 years?!" Josh exclaims in complete disbelief, his eyes blowing wide as he begins to study Tyler's appearance.   
The genie looked younger than he was! How could he have been serving his grandpa 20 years ago and still look younger than him?!  
"How old are you? You don't even look any older than 20 yourself!"

"Good question." Tyler says to him in a genuinely thoughtful tone, beginning to stroke an imaginary beard as he looks up at the ceiling.   
"Well, I look 20 because I'm physically 21, that's when I was turned into a genie. But technically, I'm really freakin old. I lost count somewhere past the thousand mark." The brunette explains casually while Josh stares on in shock.

"What the heck? And you don't age at all? Wait- Turned into a genie? You were a normal person once?" Josh was completely baffled at this point by Tyler's information, more and more questions beginning to surface in his mind.

Now that he knew Tyler was real, his curiosity about the brunette was peaked to its max. He almost cared more about learning more about Tyler than three wishes he got!

...Almost.

"Yeah, turned into a genie. How did you think genies came about?" Tyler scoffs out in an almost pretentious way, quirking an eyebrow at Josh and making the redhead roll his eyes. 

"I...I don't know, maybe when a mommy genie and a daddy genie love each other very much they'd-" Josh didn't get to finish his guess thanks to Tyler. The flustered look now adorning the genies face makes a large grin of amusement appear on Josh's lips, biting slightly on the tip of his tongue to silence a little chuckle.

"Okay! Okay! I don't need to hear it!" Tyler shouts to cut Josh off as his eyes widen and his face flushes a light rosy red that stands out most on the apples of his cheeks and the tips of his ears, hands being thrown up in defense before he sighs. "Just, no, that's not how it works." 

"How does it work then?" Josh asks with genuine interest, sitting up slightly and focusing all his attention onto the genie sitting next to him.  
Who, by the way, was still dressed like a 90's character and it took everything Josh had to take Tyler seriously while dressed in that way.  
He really needs to get Tyler into a more relevant style after this.

"Well... I cant really explain everything, because I'm still trying to figure out everything myself after all these years... But, if you're just asking how I was turned into a genie, that's easy... Kinda." Tyler starts by saying and Josh nods his head to show that he was listening and to signal the brunette to continue his story.

"Uh, so it's not really that interesting, I guess. But, it was my 21st birthday and I ended up upsetting some Gypsy lady because she wanted me to take her daughter as my first wife and I refused. I guess she took offence to it, because she cursed me right then and there. She was saying stuff like, 'Since you're a selfish soul you'll be forever cursed to carry out the wishes of others'. Then, next thing I know, BAM! My body is gone and I got sucked into some used oil lamp." Tyler explains, his hands making extravagant motions to aid his story and using a girly witch's voice to mimic the Gypsy's dialogue and Josh swears he could see the bitterness forming in Tyler's eyes.

"Dude, that's pretty crappy..." Josh comments, pity for the boy in front of him immediately pulling at his heart and causing him to flash a sympathetic smile at Tyler. "Do you uh, want a hug?" He then offers awkwardly, not knowing how else he could make things better for the brunette.

"Uh, no, don't touch me please." Tyler retorts and it makes a snort of laughter erupt from Josh as the red headed punk nods his head in an understanding way.

"Got it, fair enough. I'll keep my hugs to myself." Josh then swears as he places his right hand over his heart and raises his left up to show his dedication to his promise.   
"So uh, you don't age at all? Or...?" He then trails off purely out of curiosity and he's surprised to see Tyler shaking his head in disagreement. 

"No I do, but- Okay this is going to be a little confusing but just bare with me. From what I understand, when I'm in the lamp, its just my consciousness floating around- Or maybe its my soul, probably my soul- But the point is, when I'm in the lamp my body's not there. Then when I get out of the lamp, I get my body back and it acts like a normal human's body. I age, my hair grows, I get hungry, and tired. And, the only reason I still look 21 is because I haven't really been let out enough for my body to age much. Does that make any sense? Or did I completely confuse you? I confused you, didn't I?" Tyler explains to the best of his ability before questioning the logic in his own words. 

"Oh, no, that makes sense- I think. I mean, I understand what you're saying at least." Josh then quickly assures Tyler, beginning to lightly drum his fingers on his knees as he stares at the genie in amazement.   
"So like- What about the magic? Can you wish for things for yourself if you wanted too?" Josh continues his interrogation like questioning, unable to contain the curiosity he felt.   
He was baffled by Tyler and the existence of an actual genie. So, why wouldn't he want to learn all the ins and outs of living as some cursed magical being?

"No-Well, yes. But, no at the same time." Tyler answers as he runs a hand though the tuff of longer brown hair sitting atop his head, shuffling his position on the couch so his body was facing towards Josh.

"Uh, what..?" Josh questions as his eyebrows scrunches together. He had been following along to Tyler's explanations quite well before. But, this answer succeeded quite well at confusing him. How could he be able to wish for things but not at the same time?

"I mean, it's like, I cant wish for anything I want. I can only wish for things I need. Like, things that are needed for my body to stay alive. For, for example, if I'm hungry, I could just 'wish' myself to not be hungry anymore. But, I don't really ever do that." Tyler explains which instantly clears up most of Josh's confusion, apart from the fact that Tyler doesn't use the power he has. Why wouldn't he? Sure food was amazing and Josh would still want to be able to eat, but there was also times where it'd just be convenient to not have too.

"Why not?" He then questions, the curiosity practically dripping off the tone of his voice as he speaks now, staring at Tyler like he was the most interesting thing in the world;

Probably because he actually was.

 

"Uh, well, because, I rarely get let out out of my lamp so-" Josh listens intently as Tyler begins to explain, but he frowns slightly as the genie suddenly trails off and doesn't pick his words back up right away, which prompts Josh to egg him on just slightly;  
"So...?"

"So when I do get out, I like to act like I'm normal again. I like to eat when I'm hungry or drink when I'm thirsty, get a blanket when I'm cold and sleep when I'm tired. It's just nice to do things like a normal human would." The brunette finally answers while he looks away from Josh in an almost embarrassed way, as if it was something to be ashamed of that he wanted to pretend he was human again.

This makes the pity Josh was feeling earlier suddenly yank on his heart strings and he couldn't help himself from mentally awing at the boy in front of him. 

He had to do something nice for Tyler to brighten up the poor genie's life.

"I'll tell you what. As thanks for answering all my dumb questions, Ill take you out to go get some new 'hip' clothes now. If you want too." Josh offers and he almost laughs out loud at the look of pure excitement that flashes onto Tyler's face.

"Heck yeah!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of just a filler chapter to explain Tyler's circumstances a bit


	7. 7: It's Magic

"Wait- Are we going to ride in a car?" 

Josh was surprised at the sudden build of excitement in the genie's voice as they walk out from the living room and back into the entrance way to the house. 

"Uh, yeah? What else would we ride, Tyler?" The redhead quips back in amusement, a breathy laugh drifting from his lips. 

"I don't know just- The whole car thing is so sick! Mr.Dun gave me a ride in his car last time I was let out- It was my first time ever even seeing anything like that!" Tyler's explanation makes a sudden realization set in Josh's mind.

 

Right, the last time Tyler was let out was around 20 years ago.  
There was probably a lot of stuff that he hasn't seen or experienced yet. 

 

"...Frick dude, you really look ridiculous." Josh then speaks up as he opens the front door and Tyler squeezes past him to gush over Josh's car like an excited child, the red headed punk following quickly behind his heels. 

"Hey, it's not really nice to bash my style, Josh! This used to be 'all that' last time I was let out." The genie absentmindedly says in response as he runs a hand over the metal of the car that was glistening in the motion sensor porch light.

"C'mere, we're gonna change some things, so you don't look like such a dork while shopping." Josh then says as he unlocks his car and opens the back door, pulling out a black sweat shirt he remembered he'd left in there a couple nights ago. 

"I don't look like a dork. I can pull anything off." Tyler informs Josh, but he complies and walks over to the redhead anyways, his arms folding over his chest as he watches him.

"Yeah, sure, of course you can. But uh, take off that coat and un-tuck your shirt." Josh then tells Tyler as he flashes a toothy and amused grin at the brown eyed boy in front of him.

"I can't do anything about your pants or shoes right now, but this sweat shirt can at least stop you from sticking out too much." He muses as Tyler uncrosses his arms and begins to slip off his nylon 90's era jacket, un-tucking his white t-shirt from his baggy boot legged jeans, before then reaching out and switching his jacket for the black sweat shirt in Josh's hands.

"I can hear you laughing at me and I don't appreciate it, Joshua." Tyler then suddenly speaks as he pulls the black sweat shirt over his head, slipping his arms into it. 

"I'm not even laughing!" Josh defends himself, though if he was being honest, seeing someone in 90's style clothing in this day and age was definitely pretty humorous.

"You are with your eyes! I can hear it! You're totally laughing on the inside!" Tyler counters in an offended tone, straightening the black sweat shirt on his torso before looking up at the punk. Josh was much wider built than Tyler, so even though they were pretty much the same height, the sweat shirt was still definitely too big for the much more slim framed boy. 

But hey, it still looked much better than the out of date jacket he was wearing.

 

"Alright, we should hurry. The mall closes at 10 and its like, almost 8 right now." Josh says as he walks back up to the drivers side of the car, motioning for Tyler to join him on the passenger's side. 

As soon as Tyler was seated in the car, he begins to examine and touch everything with a childlike curiosity and it makes Josh wonder if he was really in the presence of a magical genie right now and not some third grader. 

"Wait- Where's the handle to open the window?" Tyler's confused voice calls Josh's attention as the redhead starts up the car, glancing over to see what the brunette was talking about.

Tyler was currently rubbing a hand down the side of the door in search of the handle and it makes a laugh leave Josh's lips, quickly shaking his head. 

"No, uh, Tyler, most cars don't have manual windows anymore. You can just press the bottom of this button down to open the window, then press the top of it to roll it up." Josh quickly explains, leaning over Tyler to show him the specific button on his door he was talking about and watching as Tyler's hand immediately reaches over to press the button down.

Josh full out laughs now at the shocked look on Tyler's face as the window begins to open like he said, buckling himself in before taking the car out of park. 

"I swear humans don't even need magic anymore! I mean- Just look at this Josh!" Tyler gushes as he presses on top of the button and the window begins to roll itself up, Josh practically feeling the pair of wide doe-like eyes staring at him in bewilderment. 

"I guess it is kind of cool, if I think about it." Josh says just to entertain the excitement Tyler was feeling, as he puts his car into reverse and starts to back the car up, snorting quietly at the sound of the passenger window repeatedly being rolled up and down by Tyler.

"It doesn't matter how fast I switch it just knows!"

Josh shakes his head in amusement, completely taken back by how easily this "Genie" could be entertained, getting his car pulled out onto the road and driving off down it.

 

"Hey-! Tyler! What are you doing!?" Josh then shouts as the movement of Tyler getting up on his knees catches his eyes, taking his gaze off the road in front of him for a small second to glance at the genie briefly.

Tyler now currently had his head and half his upper body out the window, holding himself up with his hands on the door. He looked exactly like an excited dog enjoying the rush of wind while on a car ride.

"Tyler!" Josh shouts in concern, slowing down his car way below the speed limit in fear of Tyler getting hurt.   
He wasn't even sure if genies could get hurt- But Josh was not going to find out by something as stupid as this.

"Tyler! Get back in here and buckle up! Dude, you're going to get hurt!" Josh's efforts to get Tyler to behave were met with the genie childishly sticking his tongue out and yelling over the wind that Josh "Needs to let him have his moment, man!"

 

Josh bites on his bottom lip. He didn't want to be that tight ass person to ruin Tyler's fun, but at the same time he really wasn't keen on seeing Tyler's head get lobbed off by a passing bus.

It was then a quick idea comes to Josh's mind.

 

"Hey Tyler-Just come back in for one second. I want to show you something pretty awesome, alright?" He requests as he begins to pull over onto the side of the road where he could safely focus his attention on the mischievous genie.

The red head puts the car in park before he reaches into his jean's pocket and pulls out his cellphone, glancing up to see that Tyler had thankfully returned his upper body into the car and was now watching him intently.

"Do you know what this is?" Josh asks as he holds up the sleek iPhone and Tyler slowly shakes his head to answer.

"Cool, well, this is a phone and-"

"That's a phone? That looks way different from the telephones I've seen." Tyler interrupts Josh to note, leaning over to get a better look at the piece of technology. "Don't you just use it to talk to other people with phones?"

"Well, yeah but- They do way more than just that now. You can play games on them, use the internet- Do you know what the internet is Tyler?" Josh asks, but the confusion he sees on Tyler's face was answer enough. 

"I'll get into that later then, but for now.." Josh trails off as he turns on the screen of his phone, types in his pass-code and begins to swipe through his home pages to find a simple game Tyler could play.

"Wait- How, how is the screen following your finger like that?" Tyler pipes up in amazement as he leans further over to look at the phone and almost completely obstructs Josh's view of the screen.

"It's called a touch screen. That means you can use your fingers to control it." Josh absentmindedly explains after letting out a breathy little laugh at Tyler's cluelessness, tapping on the game 'Fruit Ninja' before handing the phone off to Tyler.

"Here. With this game you just touch that start button, then you have to use your finger to swipe on the fruit that get thrown at the screen. You get points for cutting them, but you'll lose a life if you cut a bomb. Try it, it's fun." He tells Tyler and watches on as the genie follows Josh's directions and starts the game in amazement. 

"How-How does the touch screen know where my finger is!?" He exclaims as he slices through a piece of fruit, and Josh uses this moment of Tyler being distracted to sneakily roll up his window from the window's control panel on the driver's side door. 

"It's magic."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tyler's going to be like a literal child in this if you couldn't already tell.


	8. 8: Curious Genies are Hard to Handle

A half hour later and Josh was finding a parking spot in the mall, glancing over at Tyler in amusement. The whole rest of the ride Tyler had stayed inside the car, buckled up safely, as he continued to play fruit ninja on his phone.

Josh was honestly impressed it successfully held the brunettes attention for that long. 

"You ready, Tyler?" Josh questions as he pulls into an empty spot and parks his car, smiling at the genie in amusement. 

The car ride had been mostly silent aside from the random shouts of frustration or mumbles of how amazing the phone was from Tyler; So, Josh suddenly speaking was enough to break Tyler's attention from the addicting game.

"What? We're here already?" He asks as he glances outside to observe their surroundings. "Cars are so cool, dude! It barely even took anytime to get here!" The childish genie quips enthusiastically, beginning to jump up from his seat, only to immediately be restrained by the seat belt Josh had managed to coax onto him after giving him the phone to play with.

"Man, the seat belts suck though!" He then says in slight annoyance as he goes to unbuckle himself, causing Josh to let out a laugh as he shakes his head.

"They keep you safe, Tyler." He points out but his laughter only continues when he gets a sassy eye roll from Tyler.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what they do, I'm just saying they suck." The boy informs Josh before he quickly clambers out of the car, shutting his door before rushing to Josh's door and impatiently waits for the punk to get out.

~~~

Josh hadn't realized how difficult it was going to be to walk Tyler through a mall, until they got about 20 feet into the building. Everything seemed to be a wonder to Tyler and the genie constantly wanted to stop to look at things.

Josh was basically going through the equivalent of taking a 4 year old through a candy shop.

"Tyler come on. If we buy your clothes quick we can look at the fountain again on the way out, alright?" Josh tries his best to reason with the brunette who was staring wide eyed at the large indoor fountain displayed in the middle of the mall.

"Why are there coins in the water?" Tyler brushes off Josh's words as he leans over the railing that was supposed to keep people out of the fountain and looks down into the clear water, staring at the abundance of coins shimmering against the porcelain tiles.

"Because it's like, a thing where if you throw a coin into a fountain and make a wish it'll come true or whatever." Josh explains as he turns on the screen of his phone to check what the time was. He wasn't sure how long it was going to take to pick out clothes for Tyler and they were quickly running out of time before the mall started to close for the night.

"Really? People actually believe in magic like that? That's pretty dumb." The brunette chirps in amusement, looking up at Josh with large sparkling hazelnut eyes as he lets go of the railing and straightens back up. 

"Yeah, the dumbest." Josh says back to Tyler, a slight playfulness lacing the tone of his voice for a small moment. "Alright, come on now. No more stopping for stuff." The red headed punk then says in a way that he hoped sounded stern. He's dealt with younger siblings his whole life so he knew how to get tough if he needed too but... It was a bit harder to do when you were facing another grown man.

Not to mention that same grown man was also a magical genie who was well over a thousand years old.

"Okay, okay, jeez." Tyler gives in, throwing his hands up in a dramatized defeat before they dropped down to his sides, glancing around the mall curiously. "Where are we even going, Josh?"

"To a store where my friend, Debby, works at. She can give us a discount on your clothes. Plus she's really good at putting together outfits that look good." Josh says as he begins to walk away from the fountain, Tyler-thankfully-immediately beginning to follow after him as soon as he goes.

~~~

Josh lets out a heavy sigh of relief as they finally make it to the store they had intended to shop at, pulling Tyler inside of it.

Josh vaguely remembers something about Tyler having to stay in a reasonable distance from him, do to the whole cursed genie situation- But, that didn't keep Tyler from stopping and begging to visit every other store they had to walk past just because something interesting had caught his eye. It eventually got to the point where Josh had to grab the genie's wrist and power walk through the mall to get where they needed to go.

"Alright, I'm going to let go of you now. Stay in this store please?" Josh asks of Tyler as he finally releases the brunette's wrist but not before he gets an eyeroll and a sassy response from the genie;

"I wouldn't even be able to get that far if I did leave, Joshua."

Josh shakes his head in defeat. "Alright, yeah, you're right. I'm going to find Debby. You can look around if you want. See if there's anything you like, okay?" 

After receiving the okay from Tyler, Josh walks further into the small retail store, heading to the front desk. He knew his friend worked the night shifts here, but he wasn't exactly sure what her schedule was, so he just hoped that she was actually here and he didn't completely waste a painful trip dragging Tyler through the mall. 

Thankfully, right as he was about to go up and ask the cashier if Debby was in, a familiar flash of strawberry blonde hair catches his gaze out of the corner of his eye. A wide grin naturally appears on the punk's lips as he looks over and spots his friend off to the side re-folding clothes that customers had no doubt messed up while looking through the store's collection.

Josh bites on the tip of his tongue, as if that would somehow make him more stealthy, while he quietly begins to sneak up behind the unsuspecting girl. As soon as he was within range, his hands dart out squeezing his friend's ticklish sides and immediately earning a startled shriek from her.

Josh couldn't help but to laugh as Debby spins around to face her assailant, quickly taking a couple steps back when he notices she was holding up a coat-hanger ready to wack him with.

"Josh you jerk!" She shouts and opts throwing the shirt she was in the middle of putting away at the punk's face instead of hitting him with the hard plastic hanger in her hand. 

"What the heck!?" Josh exclaims in amusement as the clothing was thrown at him, the light fabric hitting his face before he had a chance to react, hands darting to catch it before it fell to the floor. 

"What do you want, Dun?" The strawberry-blonde asks as she rolls her eyes, though there was no hint of malice in her tone or body language, the complete opposite actually being present. It was obvious by the two's interaction that they were good friends, despite the eye rolls and the name calling from Debby. 

"I need help. I... Made a new friend and he really needs a new style of clothing." Josh gives his friend a short and easy explanation, figuring that giving Debby the truth would only land him in the loony bin- Or could potentially cause harm to Tyler if his secret got out.

"Alright, uh... Is that your friend?" Debby questions and Josh notices now that she wasn't currently looking at him, but actually past him, suddenly nodding her head towards the subject in question. 

Josh turns his head to look over his shoulder and, sure enough, she was looking at Tyler, who was across the room at the sunglasses rack. He looked as if he was trying to entertain himself by seeing how many pairs of sunglasses he could fit on his face at the same time, before the stack of glasses on his nose then suddenly became to much and they all began to slip off and clatter to the ground.

With a heavy sigh, Josh turns back towards Debby and solemnly nods his head, though the image of Tyler clambering to catch the falling glasses was now burned into his mind and making him smile. "Yeah, that would be the friend."

"Okay, well, does he know what he wants?" She asks as her eyes are drawn back to Josh instead of the boy who was no squatted on the ground and picking up the numerous pairs of sunglasses he had dropped.

"No, he doesn't. His only request was to look hip. Can you do that?" The redhead asks, the amusement lacing his tone being completely evident even if he hadn't been grinning ear to ear.

"I can see what I can do." Debby replies, her pouty lips upturning into a slightly smug smile, winking at Josh before she walks off to start collecting clothes she think would look good on Tyler.

~~~

Almost an hour and a wardrobe of clothes later, Tyler had a couple bags filled with quite a few different outfits he was entirely satisfied with. There was a slight spring to his steps as they left the store after cheerily saying his thanks to Debby. He was able to change into one of the outfits they bought and it was obvious it caused the genie to have a confidence boost.

The outfit he was wearing now was incredibly simple. It consisted of a pair of black skinny jeans, black vans, and a blue and purple patterned mickey mouse shirt. Despite the simplicity, the outfit complimented his slim figure nicely and the shirt seemed fitting for how childish the genie was.  
Even Josh could admit how cute Tyler looked in his new clothes;  
Not that he would admit it out loud however. 

"So, have you ever had fast food?" Josh suddenly asks as they make their way out of the almost completely deserted mall, his stomach grumbling lowly which had made him realize he had been so distracted with his grandpa's collections-including Tyler- that he had forgotten to eat, aside from the bowl of cereal he had for breakfast that morning. 

"...Fast food? What's so fast about it?" 

That was enough of an answer for Josh to realize Tyler was missing out on possibly the best food he'll ever have in his life.

"Dude, I have to get you some Taco Bell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was waaaayy boring 
> 
>  
> 
> Also i wrote this while being really tired so sorry for any dumb mistakes i may have made


	9. 9: He's The Genie

"So, how did you even know Mr.Dun?"

Josh looks up from his food as Tyler's muffled voice comes through a mouthful of chalupa.

After a quick stop at the Taco Bell drive thru, Josh had drove them back to his apartment- That he should mention now looked even more dumpy compared to his grandpa's huge house, but it would still make do for now.

"Oh yeah, duh, I should've probably mentioned that." Josh responds to Tyler's question as he lets out a little breathy laugh of amusement, absentmindedly reaching out and picking up his soda as he talks. 

"He was my grandpa. Well, is still my grandpa, I guess-You know what I mean."

The genie beside him suddenly pauses his chewing for a moment, a look of surprise and slight horror appearing on his face.

"Oh, I didn't mean to- I'm sorry, Josh." Tyler quickly apologizes after quickly swallowing his mouthful of food, genuinely looking as if he had been re-opening old wounds by constantly bringing up Josh's grandpa, which makes Josh quickly shake his head in reassurance.

"No, no, it's okay- I mean it's not okay, it sucks that he's dead and all, but I never really knew him." He tells Tyler before he takes a quick sip of his soda. He could tell by the curious look adorning the genie's face that Tyler was struggling to keep from asking further detail into why Josh didn't know his grandpa, so the red head quickly adds a simple explanation.

"He uh, kinda distanced himself from the family when I was really little. No one really knows why."

"...That's sad." Josh was slightly surprised at Tyler's response. He never really thought of his grandpa's situation as sad before... But now that he thought about it- It was kinda sad; To cut yourself off from friends and family and live the rest of your life alone.

Even if it was what his grandpa wanted.

It was still sad.

"...Yeah." Josh says back quietly as he slowly sets his drink back down on the coffee table, his mind now thinking entirely of his grandfather.

"What did my grandpa wish for? Maybe it could give me some ideas on what I can wish for." He then suddenly asks after a couple moments of nothing but the sound of Tyler chewing his food next to him, glancing up at the genie curiously. 

"If I'm even allowed to know that."

"Oh, yeah, I can tell you." Tyler says as he flashes a little smile at Josh.

It wasn't hard for him to remember the things Mr.Dun had wished for, especially since Tyler clung on so dearly to the memories he made while in the outside world.

His memories were the only things that could keep him sane while trapped in his lamp.

"Let's see..." The brunette trails off as he leans back against the couch, finishing off the last bite of his chalupa in the same moment.  
"First, he wished for physical fitness." He recounts the first wish Mr.Dun had made and how he wasted no time in making said wish, shamelessly speaking with his mouth half full.  
"Then he wished for wit, and then he-" This was were Tyler then suddenly pauses, swallowing hard as a saddened look overcame the genie's features, eyes glancing over at Josh.

"What? Was his last wish something bad?" Josh cuts in after Tyler's voice drifts off, his eyebrows knitting together inquisitively. 

The brunette shakes his head before answering Josh. "...No, just kind of... Depressing, I guess." He admits as he absentmindedly rubs the back of his neck.

Josh could tell right away that Tyler was hesitant to tell him about the last wish... But that only made his curiosity grow with intensity. What would be so depressing to make Tyler hesitant? 

"Depressing?" The redhead prompts Tyler to continue, his mind beginning to run through different ideas of what the genie's answer could be. 

Maybe he wished for something he couldn't have.

Or maybe he wasted his last wish on something he'd regret.

"Yeah... He well, he wished for the, the ability to communicate with his wife." Tyler finally gives the awaiting Joshua his answer, his mocha brown eyes meeting Josh's own with a look of dismay.

To eaves dropping ears the genie's words may not have sounded 'depressing' at all, but to Josh, he understood the magnitude behind the bitter sweet last wish.

His grandmother had died long before his grandfather, so long before in fact that Josh hadn't even gotten a chance to the meet the lady that played a part in giving Josh his life.

"...Oh...wow...That's uh, heavy." Josh's solemn reply came a couple moments after Tyler speaks, taking some time to process the shock of his grandfather's last wish and Josh truly hoped he was never given a reason to make the same wish.

"I'm sorry, should-should I not have told you that?" The genie sitting next to him seemed more than slightly concerned with the saddened look that now adorned Joshua's face, personally feeling happiness suited Josh's features much better.

At Tyler's concern Josh was quick to wipe the negative emotions off his face and sweep them under the rug. He could dwell on them later in the silence of the night while Tyler wasn't awake to be worried.  
"No, no, don't worry! I'm uh, I was the one who asked. I wanted to know, you probably didn't have a choice but to tell me or I would've kept bugging you about it." He then answers the brunette as he offers Tyler an assuring smile, his words being completely truthful.

Even if he was saddened with the knowledge of his grandpa's third wish, he definitely would have bugged Tyler for the answer if the genie had refused to tell him. His own curiosity was much more difficult to deal with than his sadness was. 

The next moment was occupied with silence as Tyler thoroughly studies Josh's expression, before the brunette seemed satisfied with the lack of sadness he found on Josh's face.   
"Alright, if you say so.." His words were trailed off with a quiet yawn, hand subconsciously raising to cover his mouth.

"You tired?" Josh jumps on the opportunity to leave the previous subject behind, not wanting to accidentally worry Tyler anymore than he already has. Besides, Josh was getting tired himself after the eventful day he had just lived through.

After earning a slight nod in answer from the genie, a sudden realization hits Josh that makes him click his tongue at his stupidity. "Shoot, I forgot to buy you pajamas while we were at the mall." He says as he stands up from the couch, beginning to clear up the garbage from their Taco Bell dinner. 

"Do you mind borrowing something of mine for now?" 

Tyler's head quickly shakes back and forth, watching Josh clean instead of helping him out. "No, I don't mind." He assures, flashing a toothy grin up at the punk.

 

There wasn't much of height difference between him and Tyler, so Josh had assumed he'd fit in his clothes comfortably enough to be able to sleep, but Josh had underestimated how much smaller than him Tyler actually was.

Sure they were pretty much the same height, but Tyler's frame was so much more slender than his own that the medium sized t-shirt and sweatpants he had given to the boy seemed to swallow him whole. The fabric hung loosely on the brunette's body, waist band of his sweat pants slipping dangerously low on his small hips. 

In all honesty though, the sight was adorable. 

Seeing Tyler dressed like this kinda reminded Josh of a little kid dressing up in his dad's clothes, having to struggle to not smile too widely at the comparison. 

"Uh, well, I think that's the best I can do for now." Josh says before he lets out a little breathy laugh as Tyler pointlessly tries to pull up the baggy sweatpants, which only slid back down to the same low position they had been in. 

"Here, let me at least-" Josh says as he reaches forward, pulling up Tyler's pants slightly before he grabs the draw strings in the waist band. He quickly ties the strings together, pulling them tight to keep the over-sized pants from slipping back down. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks Josh." 

It was then Tyler turned around and headed straight towards Josh's bed, climbing up onto the mattress and under the blankets like he owned the place.   
Josh stood in the middle of his room, watching Tyler get comfortable in his bed in disbelief.   
Did he just get kicked out of his bed without as much of a word?

"Uhh..." Josh trails off as he continues to stare over at the lump of blankets on his bed that now contained a genie, scratching the top of his head in slight confusion as to what just happened.

Well, now that he thought about it, he really didn't trust Tyler to sleep out on the couch by himself anyways.

It was probably safer for everyone to keep Tyler in the same room as him until Tyler gets better acquainted with 21st century.

Besides, Josh was _way_  to nice to just kick the brunette out of his bed.

"Guess I'm sleeping on the floor then?" Josh says, but he says it in a questioning tone of voice as if asking Tyler for confirmation. It's not that Josh was opposed to sleeping in the same bed with another guy, but his bed was a single so two adult men wouldn't fit too comfortably together on it.  
His eyebrows then raise up in amusement as he watches the lump of blankets wiggle around before Tyler's head pops out from underneath to respond to his question.

"Well,  _I'm_  not sleeping on the floor and I'm the genie sooo..." 

"What the _heck._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the heck indeed  
> as in what the heck why did it take me so long to update  
> sorry frens ill try to do better!
> 
> I made a twitter though so feel free to yell at me to write more often: https://twitter.com/ImAshamedAbout


	10. Update On My Books

Heyo, just want to start out by saying... I'm ashamed about this.

No pun intended (okay pun kinda intended)

But, My books are (obviously) on hiatus for the time being. I always thought i was never gonna be the author that disappoints readers by going on hiatus, but life can get sucky for even the best of people.

That being said, I just don't have the motivation to continue writing for the time being. Im sure once i get my life a bit more sorted out and less chaotic I'll come back headstrong and continue my books (And maybe even create more).

But for now, ImAshamedAboutThis and thank you for reading!


	11. 10: Delicious Pancakes = A Happy Genie

Josh's peaceful slumber was suddenly disturbed at the blaring sound of what he first assumed was his alarm clock.   
"Shoot-Wha-" He says groggily as he immediately sits up, eyes opening and glancing around his room.  
  
It was at this very moment, that Josh's heart sank deep within his chest.

  
  
Pure _horror._  
  
That was the emotion suddenly filling Josh's body to the very core, his skin suddenly breaking out in a panicked sweat. 

  
  
It was _not_  his alarm clock that had woke him up.  
  
It was the unmistakable sound of his fire alarm.

  
  
"Tyler-!?" Josh shouts in a groggy tone as he jumps up from the make shift bed he'd made on the floor, noticing immediately that Tyler was no longer in his bed.   
  
"Fuck-!" He shouts as he sprints out of his bedroom and towards the blaring fire alarm, allowing himself to use a swear, since this seemed like an appropriate time for swearing.  
  
As soon as Josh reaches the kitchen, he was met with a wall of smoke, Tyler standing in the middle of said wall.  
The genie was currently in front of the stove; Something burning away in a pan as Tyler, clearly panicked, tried to fix the mess he made.   
  


"Tyler what are you doing!?" Josh didn't mean to sound so angry when he yelled, but could you blame him? Tyler was literally starting a fricken fire in his kitchen!  
  
At the sound of Josh's voice yelling over the loud fire alarm, Tyler looks over at the male with widened eyes, letting go of the pan containing the smoking mess. 

"I-I was just making pancakes!" Tyler shouts over the alarm as Joshua quickly rushes into the kitchen and turns off the stove. He picks up the smoking pan, looking down at the completely blackened pancake batter stuck to it and dumping it into the sink; Quickly turning on the faucet to cool the smoldering pancake.   
  
"What were you thinking!?" Josh shouts, the alarm still blaring loudly as he grabs a cloth from under the sink and begins to wave it next to the ceiling alarm to clear the smoke and hopefully get the ear piercing alarm to shut off.   
  
Adrenaline was pumping through Josh's veins, he had literally expected to come out to see a full blown fire and Tyler dead... He didn't even know if Tyler _could_  die, but he had been sure he was about to find the genie deceased.   
"Seriously Tyler-!?" He continues to yell as he finally gets the alarm to shut up, not realizing how angry he was sounding until he glances over and sees the upset look on Tyler's face.   
  
"I'm sorry, Josh..." Tyler's timid voice made Josh take in a deep breath to try and calm himself, eyes closing tightly for a small moment.   
  


This was okay, no one got hurt. His kitchen isn't burnt down, Tyler's still alive, that's all that mattered.  
  


Josh's eyes opened, already feeling much calmer as he sighs quietly.   
  
"It's fine- It's alright. Are you okay?" He then asks the genie as he runs a stressed hand through his mop of red hair, dropping the cloth on the counter and walking towards Tyler.   
  
"Yeah, I'm okay. I was just hungry and I found the pancake mix so I-" This is where Josh cuts Tyler off as he raises a hand.   
  
"Look, it's alright. But, I'm putting in a new rule right now; Tyler is _not_  allowed to touch the stove without permission. Got it?" Josh was careful to keep any anger out of his voice but still made his tone firm as to not give Tyler any room for an argument and thankfully, the genie nodded his head in understanding.   
  
"Josh?"  
  


Another sigh leaves Josh's lips, this one purely because his sudden exhaustion was now catching up to him as his adrenaline tapers down.   
  


"Yes, Tyler?" 

 

  
"Can you make me pancakes?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was about twenty minutes later and both Josh and Tyler were sitting at the kitchen table, delicious pancakes in front of the both.   
  
Tyler had practically drowned his pancakes in syrup, and was now shoveling the sticky food into his mouth. Josh couldn't help but smile slightly, still questioning how this childish man became an all magical being.   
  
"We're gonna start moving my stuff into the house Grandpa left me today. My lease on this apartment is ending next month so-" Josh was beginning to explain before he noticed the look on Tyler's face. The look that clearly said he had know clue what Josh was currently talking about, but he was pretending he knew by nodding along as Josh speaks about his lease. 

"I mean- That parts whatever. Bottom line is: I have to be moved out of here by next month and the weekends are the only days I have off from work." Josh cuts out the details as not to confuse the olden aged genie with talks of a lease and his grumpy landlord, cutting up his pancake as he speaks. 

"You have a job?" Tyler asks with a mouth half full of pancakes, swallowing the food down as Josh answers him.

"Yeah, I work at a record store. We sell music and stuff." He decides to add on a little explanation in case Tyler didn't know what a record store was, taking a bite of his own syrupy mess of  a pancake.  
  
"Ooooh.." Tyler draws out to show he understood, eyes on his plate as he cuts off another big piece of his pancake and shoves it into his mouth.  
"What about me?"  
  
Josh's eyebrows raise at Tyler's question, looking at the genie for a small moment before speaking; "...What about you?"  
  
Tyler's eyes roll dramatically as if he disbelieved Josh had no clue what he was talking about.  
"I'm connected with you, _remember_?" He asks as he points his fork at Josh, the pancake on the prongs dripping tiny droplets of syrup onto the kitchen table.   
  
"Oh- Oh shoot, yeah. I forgot about that part..." Josh replies, his sentence trailing off as he tries to think of a solution for this problem.   
Where was Tyler supposed to go while he worked? Maybe he could just wait outside- No, he'd probably end up drawing too much attention to himself.  
  
"I'll think of something, alright?" Josh then decides to put off the predicament until later in the day, there was no point in stressing about it now.   
  
"Alright, Josh." Tyler replies in a chipper tone, the pancake on the fork he was still pointing at Josh now disappearing into the genies grinning mouth.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, some of you will look at this update and say "Oh sick! You're updating again! Does that mean you're feeling better, Ashamed? :D"
> 
> Well the simple answer is no.
> 
> I'm actually at my lowest point once more, but sometimes our lowest points hold the most potential.
> 
> If you'd like to talk to me and stuff you can follow me on twitter @ImAshamedAbout  
> https://twitter.com/ImAshamedAbout


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